whirlwind

the past couple of days have been just that - a whirlwind of emotions and physical challenges. after sort of inadvertently signing up for my Ironman race (mark your calendar kids, we're having Thanksgiving in Cozumel! Dad is already trying to figure out how to fry a turkey without pissing off the Mexican consulate! ha! Texans, you can take them out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of them) my head and my body went into some weird hypersensitive mode as in "HOLY EFFING COW! DID I REALLY JUST DO THAT?! WHAT THE F...YES, YES I DID. OH BOY...HERE WE GO" now don't get me wrong, i was going to do it anyway - CB only had to say the word to exacerbate the crescendo of possibilities sounding in my head - i just wasn't aware that i would get in at that exact moment. the press release did say registration wasn't open until August 19...not August 6, but if i've learned anything in the past 6 months its to roll with the punches. so paint me black and white, slap a NFHS approval sticker on me and punt me out the door, i'm ready coach!

the short version of my personal life's demise before its even started:

CB: FW - If you have even been considering racing Ironman...

kb: I am so in…2010 – Cozumel, here I come…can you handle it?!

kb: Or should we do the inaugural year??!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!!!!

CB: You know my answer to that already. Why do you think I sent it to you?

kb: You sent it to everyone…if you say yes, so help me God I am signing up…I’m serious. Don’t play with me Brian Alexander Melekian.

CB: Based on what I have seen in the last month Katie B, I have 0 doubt you could do an Ironman in 2009. 0 doubt.

and there you have it - the idea was born, hatched and now it's clucking around on two legs and squawking "OMG! OMG! OMG!" just you wait till that damn thing takes flight !

because of the plethora of excitement, fright, disbelief and determination running through my veins on Wednesday, my ride felt extremely laborious. i couldn't focus on the ride or my rhythm. my legs felt like dead logs. i couldn't get past the breaking point and fighting the headwinds for the majority of the ride was less than ideal in my state of perplexity. i kept pushing though because in my head, this weekday route is a race. i need to beat the previous week's time, the previous week's speed, the previous week's strength. i constantly flirt with the clock, trying ever so slightly to push my limits more so than the time prior. i feared this week wouldn't fair so well as i just couldn't get my body and mind to cooperate with the effort i wanted to put forth. on my last stretch of flat, i was stopped by the red demon which normally erks me, but on this particular day lent me the moment to check out my stats - I WAS AVERAGING 17.5 MPH!!!! last week was only 17.1! ROCK ON KATIE B, ROCK ON :)

last night, i attempted my first track work out since knee surgery and let's just say it wasn't very attractive. it was actually down right ugly. the workout consisted of the following:

10 min warm-up

10 min stretch w/alternate high knee/butt kick drills

4X400 w/10sec rest

2X200 w/30sec rest

setX3

10 min cool-down

in the midst of one of my numerous jaunts around the track, i yelled something to the effect of "slave drivers!" in Luke and Felipe's general direction and was met in return with a "thank you!" this from the guy who manifested the "rotating circle of death" drill that tried to drown me in the pool the week prior. no love. none at all. in fact, the opposite of love and i feel this is how our relationship will continue in the months to come IF Coach Brian decides track is something he wants me to continue to do. in the end, it felt good to put some "speed" in my week, but that "speed" was just a touch above where i unusually train because i am not in "speed" shape. unfortunately on the last set of night's torture round, i felt my left knee start to pull and was immediately reminded that i need to strengthen my core in order to offset the deficits that occur when my body gets tired. so much work ahead of me, so so so so so so much. i can tell you this - i will be icing the heck out of my knee all day so that i am ready for the weekend's workouts.

all in all, its been a fantastic week. my feet are really starting to get back under me in all aspects of my life. i feel better than ever. my head is clearer than ever. i am healthy and happy and content in this exact moment, in this exact space with this exact hope in the awesomeness to come...

...the possibilities are endless, i only have to reach out to take them.